I'm going by what's available about the show at Wikipedia. It's possible the information there is wrong (but for this kind of show, I'd prefer an LA setting to a New York one).

there's a Spanish version being made as well...

Click to expand...

Ah, now the late seventies were a very interesting period in Spanish history. I think this demonstrates the strength of the premise, in that you can potentially make shows tackling very different issues based off the same basic plot.

Actually, this is one of very few cases where I think there's a legitimate case for making an American remake of a British show (unlike, say, the attempt at an American 'Red Dwarf'). This show is essentially about the culture shock between time periods, and since American and Britain had/have different cultures (particularly in the Los Angeles region, which is where the new show will be set), the American version--if done well--won't just be a retread but should have all new vistas to explore usign the same premise.

Click to expand...

As captcalhoun said, it's being set in New York, not Los Angeles. Also: the British show took place in Manchester, and I honestly believe that most Americans would have difficulty penetrating the accents.

What I don't get is why the American show is sticking with the early seventies timeframe as the British counterpart - it seems to me that placing it in the mid-sixties, contemporaneous with the civil rights and counterculture movements, would have a lot more dramatic potential.

Click to expand...

Not if it's set in New York. If you're setting it in L.A. or D.C. or Baltimore or anywhere in the South, then yeah, the 1960s makes more sense, but if you're doing New York, the 1970s are way more rife for storytelling. The city was a completely different place 35 years ago.

As captcalhoun said, it's being set in New York, not Los Angeles. Also: the British show took place in Manchester, and I honestly believe that most Americans would have difficulty penetrating the accents.

Click to expand...

Well, I'll trust that the two of you are better informed (although if true, I suppose we ought to change the wiki entry), and I'll trust that you're right about New York in the seventies since I know little of the history of the city. As for the accents: I've watched a few episodes on Showcase, and I was able to understand (though, admitedly, not without effort, which might turn off viewers). I thought it was sort-of similar to Dave Lister's accent.

Also: the British show took place in Manchester, and I honestly believe that most Americans would have difficulty penetrating the accents.

Click to expand...

You know, I met a girl from Manchester at my University recently, and I had no trouble understanding her. I did, however, have absolutely no idea where in Britain she was from -- I could tell it was a British accent, but it didn't sound like any I'd heard before. It wasn't quite Scottish, it didn't quite sound like the Northern accent Christopher Eccleston has, it certainly didn't sound Liverpoolian or Cockney or Estuary or RP. I finally broke down and asked her.

Don't ask me why 'cause I don't know, but people from Liverpool are referred to as "Liverpudlian"

Click to expand...

And people from Manchester are Mancunians and people who go to Oxford University are Oxonian. I think it's based on the old Roman names for the places. Liverpool wasn't around in Roman times, so maybe it's a mock-Latin form based on substituting "puddle" for "pool." Or maybe it's a substitution for the sake of faux-Latin pronunciation, since "Liverpoolian" would be awkward. Like the way the works of George Bernard Shaw are described by the faux-Latin adjective "Shavian." (The term "Whovian" for Doctor Who fans is no doubt based upon that pattern.)

Trekmovie.com now has a preview up for the American LoM. Heres the link, but just so you know you do have to scroll down past the stuff about Fringe. Judging by what I've read about the original it looks like they actually stuck pretty close to it.

From the first time I read the New Frontier books, I always saw Hugh Jackman as Calhoun. But Jeffrey Donovan would be a good second choice. Flanigan? Maybe. He's got the right look, but I've never seen him do anything other than SG-A, so I have a tough time picturing him as anyone other than Sheppard.